Information provided in a vehicle compartment is various. For example, the information includes vehicle states such as a vehicle speed, an engine speed, a shift position, fuel, and water temperature. Additionally, the information includes a map for navigation, air conditioner setting information, and audio information, for example. In recent years, the information such as night views for driving assistance, information about a mobile terminal carried into the vehicle, or the like is provided.
Various display apparatuses are mounted to provide these kinds of information. The display apparatuses include a head-up display and a liquid crystal display to display a map for navigation. Some types of meter panels for displaying vehicle speed and the like use liquid crystal displays to provide varieties of information and are categorized as the display apparatuses.
Because the information (also referred to hereinafter as display image) provided in the above way is increasing, it is practically difficult to preliminarily determine all patterns as to which display image is displayed on which region (also referred to hereinafter as area) of the display apparatuses in what situation. Additionally, when multiple display apparatuses are mounted to a vehicle, it is further difficult to preliminarily determine all the patterns.
A technology described in Patent Document 1 assigns priority to each area and compares the priorities of the areas to automatically determine which display image is displayed in which area. This may enable a determination of the areas for displaying the display images in a manner adapted for an in-vehicle environment without preliminarily determining all the patterns of display image combinations.
However, the technology described in Patent Literature 1 does not suffice in the following point.
Suppose that two display images have a relationship therebetween; for example, a certain display image is supposed to pop up on a different display image. In this case, when the display areas of the display images are determined by comparing the priorities of the areas, there is a possibility that the two display images are displayed in distant areas and that a user has a difficulty in grasping the relationship between the display images